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November 29, 2003 -- Three Michigan Tech students have earned the right to compete in the biggest computer code-writing contest in the world. Joe Nievelt of Royal Oak, Kyle J. Rokos of Traverse City, and Patrick Williams of Otsego will go to Prague in March for the 28th Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals. They are among 72 teams to advance to the finals. All rose to the top in dozens of regional ICPC contests, which draw thousands of college students from around the world. "It's very exciting," says Linda Ott, chair of Michigan Tech's Department of Computer Science. "We have some top-notch programmers here, and it's fun to see them get this far. "They really are world caliber, and it's great to see them get this recognition." To qualify for the world finals, they excelled in the ACM North Central North America Programming Contest, which drew 177 teams from 70 colleges and universities. The MTU team will be joined in the Czech Republic by a team from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which was the top scorer in the regionals. David Poplawski, an associate professor of computer science at Michigan Tech, coached the students in preparation for the contest, but he declines credit. "They got most of their talent independent of the little practices I hold," he says. "It's a tremendous honor for them." For more information on the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, visit http://icpc.baylor.edu |